A mostly empty office and parking complex near Highland Avenue and 31st Street has turned into Downers Grove’s latest flashpoint, as the Village Council weighs a proposal to turn the site into a 184-unit apartment building. Supporters say the adaptive reuse would add housing without pushing out the property lines, while nearby residents warned officials about more traffic, added pressure on schools and new noise drifting into quiet blocks. The plan has already cleared the village planning process and is slated to land on the council’s agenda this month.
What the plan would build
The developer wants to convert the six-story structure at 1020 W. 31st Street into 184 market-rate apartments: roughly 25 studios, 68 one-bedrooms and 91 two-bedrooms. Plans describe shared lounges, co-working spaces, a fitness center, an outdoor amenity deck, sports courts and a dog park. Conversion work outlined by the developer calls for full residential kitchens, in-unit laundry, modern HVAC systems and life-safety upgrades, while keeping the building footprint largely the same. These details and the unit breakdown are drawn from reporting and village documents tied to the pending rezoning and planned-unit-development request, according to Shaw Local.
Commission recommendation and council timeline
The project passed a key test in mid-June, when the Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval on a 6-1 vote, according to local reporting from Patch. Municipal filings list Neder Capital Services LLC as the petitioner and Butterfield Commercial as the owner of the property, records that appear in documents from Prospect Heights. A public first reading before the Village Council took place in early July, and the council placed further consideration of the ordinances on its calendar, according to those materials.
Neighbors raise traffic, school and noise concerns
Residents who spoke at hearings told commissioners they are worried the conversion will clog Highland and 31st with more cars and add strain for local schools and first responders. "Those pickle ball courts ... are loud and obnoxious and those will be very close to some of the houses in that neighborhood," resident Vince Carter said in comments reported by Shaw Local. Other neighbors, including Paul Green, pointed out that the proposal does not include affordable units. The project team has pointed to a traffic analysis, included in village materials and summarized in local reporting, that estimates the residential use would generate about 75 percent fewer daily trips than the site’s prior office use, and the developer projected only a handful of new students for nearby schools, according to Shaw Local.
What comes next
The council’s next vote on the rezoning and PUD ordinances will decide whether the conversion can shift into permitting and construction. Village staff materials describe the redevelopment as an adaptive-reuse project that fits the Guiding DG comprehensive plan goal of adding housing near major corridors. Opponents are urging officials to push for more study or changes tied to school impacts, public safety and affordability. The Village’s meeting agenda lists the related ordinance items and the schedule for council consideration, according to the Village of Downers Grove.
